Golf is an increasingly popular game. Twenty-five million golfers in the US alone play on over fifteen thousand US courses. To grow the golf industry must attract and retain new players while successfully accommodating the play of existing golfers. However, trends indicate that only 1 in 3 people who try golf for the first time continue to play the game (i.e. the current retention rate of new players is 33%) partly due to the fact that speed of play has slowed steadily over the past decade. In the early 70's, an average 18 hole round required 41/2 hours to complete. By the early 90's, the time had increased to 51/2 hours. Golf courses and resorts would like to improve speed of play to improve their bottom line, since more paying players on a course means more income, and more new golfers would be retained.
Slow play and low retention rates for new golfers represent significant risks for the golfing industry. Speed of play directly affects the total number of rounds played, and so the course revenue, and has an indirect impact on food and beverage sales, and merchandise sales. Perhaps more importantly, slow play decreases overall enjoyment of the game.
Before the advent of golf carts, caddies were common in the golf industry. In addition to carrying a player's golf clubs, a caddie provided a golfer with a substantial amount of information and knowledge about a course. Today, the professional caddie provides information about course layout, green configuration, yardage to hazards, and other critical elements of a professional golfer's strategic game, including evaluation of the ball's position, or lie, and suggestions on optimal club and shot selection.
However, average golfers no longer play with caddies, but use golf carts which have also become a revenue source for the golf course owner. The absence of the caddie's knowledge has had a significant negative impact on a player's ability to formulate strategy based on the lie and the local layout, especially for a player who is an occasional or first time player of a course. This lack of knowledge inhibits players from developing the strategic skills which now must be nurtured through years of playing familiar courses. The information that caddies once provided, and still provide to touring pros, would still greatly enhance the game and play of amateur golfers.
Golf industry publications and the governing bodies associated with golf are launching programs to improve speed of play. One such program is to rate courses for their speed of play. Courses which do not achieve target speeds of play will be rated less favorably than those that do.
Looking more closely, studies have indicated that there is no clear single reason causing the slow play problem. Slow play is not caused by: female golfers; high handicaps (i.e. skill level), lost balls (and time spent searching for them), or length of time spent on greens putting. The studies also show that there is no apparent quick fix to the speed of play problem. Playing through (the courtesy of allowing a faster group to get in front of a slower group) has been shown to only slow play.
Course signage can provide yardage, course layout, and hole configuration information. It's effectiveness is limited by several factors. First, signage is limited to fixed locations, usually the hole layout is shown at the tee, and typically there is a marker at 150 yards from the center of the green. The golfer cannot look at the layout sign (or see a yard marker) when the golfer is in the fairway or rough - where they need it. Second, the use of fixed yard markers encourage golfers to pace off yardage from the nearest marker to their lie and so slow the play. In addition, yard markers are not usually provided within a range of 100 yards of the pin (yet would provide critical information for these so called touch shots). Fixed yardage markers do not reflect the regular changes (i.e. daily) in pin (hole) location.
Many of these problems cannot not be readily overcome. For example, fixed yardage markers cannot be installed inside the 100 yard range without encountering issues associated with geometry of hole placement, yardage calibration point, and the radial distribution of fixed yard markings.
Yardage books provide similar information to fixed course signage. High quality printing allows yardage books to provide more detail and extensive yardage measurements from various points on the course. However, the yardage books do not provide yardage to the actual pin location. The books are cumbersome and, since the information in the book is complex in the attempt to be complete, the relevant information is not selectively presented to the golfer. Finally, yardage books, similarly to fixed yardage marking, do not provide information within 100 yards of the green.
Score cards typically provide course layouts. The graphics are usually small, often inaccurate, and provide limited resolution, and limited use in actual play.
Various companies have marketed electronic yardage systems. Yardmark, Inc. is a typical example. Yardmark is the assignee of U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,634 - invented by Dudley, for a cart mounted electronic yardage measuring system. The system uses embedded radio frequency (RF) tags to `mark` a course. The RF tags are detected by a cart mounted unit which then displays yardage to pin and yardage to hazards on an alphanumeric screen. The system has the following limitations: the screen is not dynamic, the system provides limited information beyond simple yardage differentials, and the entire information content is based on relative position and not actual location on the course. The golf course operator must commit to an extensive survey and installation of related markers and equipment before the system can be demonstrated.
Yardmark, Inc., markets another system under YARDMARK.TM. that determines differential yardage based on LORAN technology. Radio towers are erected at or in proximity of the course, and cart mounted units use the LORAN signals to triangulate and find their position. Alphanumeric displays indicate distance to the front and back of the green and to the pin.
RANGEMASTER.TM. is another LORAN based system which is being installed at golf courses. This system utilizes broadcasting towers and alphanumeric displays that are very similar to the YARDMARK.TM. system.
LORAN based systems are susceptible to electronic and radio frequency noise. For example, electric carts generate significant noise that will adversely affect operation of such LORAN systems. Another limitation of LORAN systems in the need to erect the local broadcast towers.
Vistatronics is marketing the Vistatronics Eagle.TM., a hand held laser range finding device which allows the golfer to determine yardage to pre-positioned pins (or the hole pin) equipped with plastic reflectors. The product has a limited range (.+-.1 up to 200 yds., diminished accuracy up to 300 yds.). In addition, the range finder can only be used in line of site situations and therefore cannot provide yardage on doglegs (holes which angle significantly to the left or right), elevations, or blind shots. While the device is hand held, allowing distance to be determined (within accuracy limitations) at the exact location of the ball (assuming line of sight to a marker), its use can be cumbersome when combined with all of the activities of a golfer preparing for a shot. Finally, the system requires that the golf course operator survey and install markers on the course.
In another approach to the slow play problem, Linkstime hole timers were developed. The timers use a digital display to indicate `par time` for each hole. Golfers are encouraged to speed play in order to insure that the indicated elapsed time of play (on each hole) never exceeds the `par time`. The system is limited by several factors. When `par time` is exceeded, the golfer is alerted by an intrusive beeper. The system alerts the golfer once they are already guilty of slow play. The `alarm clock` nature of the product is hardly in keeping with the traditionalism and serenity of the golf environment.
Timers have the distinct limitation that they measure speed at the end of each hole, but the timers do not help identify the elements of slow play.